Bankruptcy?

[usbp456]

Hello all,

I have had many sleepless nights for the past few weeks thinking if I should declare bankruptcy or not.

This is what I owe:

Credit Cards: About $15,000
Personal Loan: $2600
Car Loan: $25,000
Mortgage: $73,500

The above balances are very close to the actual balances.

I take home about 1920 after taxes/medical/dental/vision/401(k) are taken out.

I talked to a credit counselor yesterday and she suggested bankruptcy also. We came out to the point that I spend about $1,950 in expenses NOT including the debt loans.

How this works is for example if I pay the minimum payment on one of my credit cards ($50) and I need to pay the cable bill of $50 I would pay the credit card and thus paid the credit card and also paid the bill, so basically knocking out two bills with one payment.

I know this is not right but its the only way Im keeping afloat.


Ive been thinking about declaring bankruptcy and getting rid of the credit cards and personal loan. Even though I would love to keep my car I dont think I would be comfortable with a $582 payment each month.

About my car loan. My previous contract at 72 months at 5.9% which is about $489/month I recently refinanced to a 48 month 3.75% which is about $582/month. I should say that I had paid a year on my car before I refinanced.

Would I be able to get rid of everything except the house?

The house is something I am not ready to lose as its only a $350 payment which is better than going out and renting some place for $700-$800/month.

One more reason I would like to declare bankruptcy is because I am currently 22 years old. And my way of thinking is this: If I declare bankruptcy now it will be off my credit report by the time Im 32 which is still young to me and that way I can buy a bigger house later on in life.

Any thoughts?



Thanks

[usbp456]

One more thing. I have NO idea how I ended up with $15,000 in debt at such a young age. When I was going over that number yesterday I walked around the house looking for antying of value and didn't find anything. So I dont know where that $15,000 went to

[usbp456]

Another thing.

I have stopped contributing to my 401(k) so I can have extra money to pay for bills and such.

My company was matching 100% for the first 6% I contribute.

[twest]

Can you post your budget so we might can help determine if there are areas that you can cut. I am very oppposed to bankruptcy (as I think alot of people on this site are) and if there is a way around it we may be able to give you some other options.

[breathemusic]

Also, does your work have a steady schedule that would allow you to pick up part time work on the side to make extra money?

[siggy_freud]

Need more details, but one of the glaring things I see is that you have 1900 a month take-home pay, and you have a nearly $600 a month car payment. You need to ditch the car and get something either in cash, or with a 100-200 a month payment MAX.

Drop the $50 a month cable bill. If you're desperate enough to be considering bankruptcy, then you don't need to be shelling out $50 a month on cable.

You'd be hard pressed to find a living situation in any place for less than what you pay for mortgage, so I think the overarching goal here is to keep up with your house payments.

First step is to get out from under that car payment asap. You're 22, you can always buy a nice car later.

[usbp456]

I dont have a budget per say but this is what the credit counselor and myself came up with more or less.

I would love to work part time but I have a weird schedule that changes often.

Mortgage - $350**
Car Loan - $582 but pay $600
Personal Loan - $161.40
Car Insurance - $194.52
Groceries - $200/month**
Gas for car - $150-200/month
Cellphone - $30 prepaid cancelled contract recently
Gas company - $30**
Electric - $60**
DirecTV - $29.99**
Internet - $49.95**
Water/Sewer/Trash - $35
School Tuition - $156.00

Credit Card Minimum payments (Average)

CC1 - $15
CC2 - $85
CC3 - $45
CC4 - 100


The expenses with ** are shared with my roommate. He pays half of my mortgage and also pays some of the bills, we switch it up every month. So for example this month I might pay the gas bill and he might pay the electric bill but next month i might pay the electric bill and he will pay the gas bill.

[usbp456]

Need more details, but one of the glaring things I see is that you have 1900 a month take-home pay, and you have a nearly $600 a month car payment. You need to ditch the car and get something either in cash, or with a 100-200 a month payment MAX.

Drop the $50 a month cable bill. If you're desperate enough to be considering bankruptcy, then you don't need to be shelling out $50 a month on cable.

You'd be hard pressed to find a living situation in any place for less than what you pay for mortgage, so I think the overarching goal here is to keep up with your house payments.

First step is to get out from under that car payment asap. You're 22, you can always buy a nice car later.

I would love to ditch the car but my car loan is for about $25,000 but since I hit a deer a few months back (he ran into my car while on the highway at 65mph) my cars value dropped significantly. I have received quotes from $14,000-$17,000 even though I would love to ditch it I dont have the extra money to finish paying it off.


And yes my goal is not to lose the house, I will keep making payments

[bjl584]

I dont have a budget per say but this is what the credit counselor and myself came up with more or less.

I would love to work part time but I have a weird schedule that changes often.

Mortgage - $557.00**
Car Loan - $582 but pay $600
Personal Loan - $161.40
Car Insurance - $194.52
Groceries - $200/month**
Gas for car - $150-200/month
Cellphone - $30 prepaid cancelled contract recently
Gas company - $30**
Electric - $60**
DirecTV - $29.99**
Internet - $49.95**
Water/Sewer/Trash - $35
School Tuition - $156.00

Credit Card Minimum payments (Average)

CC1 - $15
CC2 - $85
CC3 - $45
CC4 - 100


The expenses with ** are shared with my roommate. He pays half of my mortgage and also pays some of the bills, we switch it up every month. So for example this month I might pay the gas bill and he might pay the electric bill but next month i might pay the electric bill and he will pay the gas bill.

Cancel TV and Internet
Pick up a part time job
Sell the car and buy a beater
Stop using the credit cards ASAP
Cut expenses wherever else possible. No going out, no eating out, etc.

You are too young to be in this much financial trouble. Time to buckle down and get yourself out of this mess before it gets worse.

Bankrupcty is not the answer. You need to change how you think about and manage money.

[usbp456]

Brian,

Are there any ways to get rid of an underwater car?

Only thing I know is selling it for alot less than what is owed on it and I just pay the difference (but I have no money).

If I trade it in for a beater lets say a $5,000 dollar one I have negative equity in my car because of the depreciated value of the car since I hit a dear, that would roll over to the new loan which I dont think any company would finance a $5000 car for about $13000.



I dont know what else to do with the car.

[usbp456]

Also I just called to see how much the ETF would be if I cancelled my Internet contract and its

25% of 49.95 for each month remaining

plus $100.

What sucks is that I just signed my contract in August when I moved to my new place so I have only paid 4 months on a 3 year contract.

Meaning that my EFT would be

25% of 49.95 x 32(months left) = $384 plus $100 total is $484, which I just dont have

[bjl584]

Brian,

Are there any ways to get rid of an underwater car?

Only thing I know is selling it for alot less than what is owed on it and I just pay the difference (but I have no money).

If I trade it in for a beater lets say a $5,000 dollar one I have negative equity in my car because of the depreciated value of the car since I hit a dear, that would roll over to the new loan which I dont think any company would finance a $5000 car for about $13000.



I dont know what else to do with the car.

You are right. The only way to get rid of it are to sell or trade it for less than what you owe. You will need to come up with the difference either rolled into a loan or by getting a personal loan and paying it yourself.

How upside down are you? This is where part time work would help. You could at least get to a break even point before selling, if it's a reasonalble amount of time.

[usbp456]

Owe about $25,000

But worth only about between $14,000-$17,000 (reason because I hit a deer). I have tried to apply for a personal loan to pay off the car but no one will lend

[bjl584]

Owe about $25,000

But worth only about between $14,000-$17,000 (reason because I hit a deer). I have tried to apply for a personal loan to pay off the car but no one will lend

So the vehicle is wrecked? I'm guessing that you didn't get it reparied because you didn't have the money to cover the deductible? How much will it cost to get it repaired?

[bjl584]

Your car payment is a third of your monthly take home. It's killing you. That should be first priority after cutting out the easy and the small things. You need to do whatever you can to get to a break even point on the car and dump it off.